Applying for financial aid can be a complicated, time-consuming endeavor for students and their families. Fortunately, many state aid programs have taken strides to align aid applications to the form used for federal aid programs, the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), making state aid more readily accessible. New conversations…

The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) requires states to identify and turn around struggling schools, with federal school improvement money required to fund evidence-based policies. Most research on turnarounds has focused on individual schools, whereas studies of district-wide turnarounds have come from relatively exceptional settings and…

The following profiles address how the state departments of education are helping educators prepare for and implement their states' new college- and career-readiness standards and aligned assessments, through professional learning. SREB researchers examined each state's major professional development efforts around its new standards in order to…

Implementation of college- and career-readiness standards is some of the most important work currently underway in states to improve student achievement and public education overall. SREB examined the efforts of 14 states--including 11 SREB states--to support implementation of new college- and career-readiness standards. The goal of the research…

The following profiles address decisions and actions that state education policy-makers--in the state departments of education, unless otherwise noted--are taking to foster successful statewide implementation of their states' new college- and career-readiness standards and aligned assessments. These profiles provide a descriptive overview of each…

Educational reform in the United States is perpetually evolving. Much of the recent reforms have concentrated on high-stakes testing and assessment, but a parallel effort has been emerging in the field of vocational and career education. Prompted partly by federal legislation--most recently by the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act…

Background/Context: This study examines the extent of reform in preparation programs in school leadership in six states employing a comprehensive, whole-state intervention design. Although no studies of these or other comprehensive reform designs are available, there is a rich context surrounding preparation reform work that informed our…

This report presents and analyzes the results of the State Alcohol and Drug Abuse Profile data for the states' 1985 fiscal year (FY). Included is information from the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. Highlights, an executive summary, an introduction, and a section on the study purpose and methodology…

Key elements of selected educational choice programs in 11 states are summarized in this report. Information is provided on the type and level of program, number and age of students served, program costs and revenue sources, staffing, evaluation methods, and length of time in existence. Educational trends, barriers to program expansion, the…

This document reports on the problems associated with teenage pregnancy on a national level and the statistics and corresponding impact on the youth of West Virginia. Four recommendations are given in the summary: (1) develop a comprehensive state plan to address adolescent pregnancy, parenting, and prevention in West Virginia, noting that a…

This report identifies state initiatives, policies, and programs in the area of adult learning undertaken in 10 selected states during 1979 and 1980. The methodology used to compute the state data is described. Profiles are then provided for the surveyed states: Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Nebraska, New York, Rhode Island, South Carolina,…

The development and implementation of Kentucky's Program for Educationally Deficient School Districts is examined in this case study. Implemented in 1987, the program required districts to meet certain performance, planning, and reporting criteria. Districts failing to comply could be placed in categories of noncompliance. Data were derived from…

Findings of a study that describes restructuring efforts undertaken by state education agencies (SEAs) are presented in this paper. Data were collected through telephone interviews with SEA officials in 24 states that were actively engaged in restructuring and analysis of SEA documents. Factors that contributed to restructuring included the place…

Findings of a study that evaluated the implementation and effectiveness of 10 state-authorized parent education and involvement pilot programs in Texas are presented in this paper. Data were derived from demographic report forms, 369 parent opinion surveys, student opinion surveys, 105 teacher opinion surveys, cost surveys, and final evaluation…

Efforts to coordinate state-level Right to Read activities are reported in this document by listing objectives and indicating what activities were undertaken in support of those objectives. The activities included four regional meetings of state Right to Read project directors during which the following four problem areas were discussed: training…